Early Childhood Development Program Director, Ukraine

Job Description

Sesame Workshop seeks a Program Director for an Early Childhood Development (ECD) program for young children affected by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Under the guidance of the New York based Senior Director of Humanitarian Programs, Sesame Workshop (SW) seeks an experienced individual to serve as the primary Sesame Workshop representative for its response to the conflict in Ukraine and will develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and humanitarian actors to enable SW to achieve programmatic targets and goals. In addition, this person will support program expansion by securing partnerships with key stakeholders and additional funding for program expansion and implementation.

This is a full-time limited-term position that will commence immediately with a duration through June 2024, with a possibility of extension.

The position is based in Ukraine and is open to Ukrainian national applicants.

Please Note: The salary range posted for this role is currently under review. We will discuss specific salary information during the interview process.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Representation and Coordination:
• Represent the project at working-level meetings and external events such as conferences, stakeholder meetings, and conference calls, including but not limited to meetings with Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ukraine Education Cluster Meeting, and the Ukraine Education Cluster ECD Working Group
• Help to implement distribution and advocacy plans in coordination with the SW Project Management and Advocacy teams
• Identify new partnership and funding opportunities and collaborate with the philanthropic-development team to pursue them

Technical Excellence:
• In collaboration with on-the-ground partners, create a plan for and develop activities and training modules for direct service programs that drive improvements in SEL, playful learning, inclusive engagement, and positive self-concept. Strategically integrate media content into learning spaces in coordination with partners
• Provide technical guidance and ensure complementarity of activity approaches across the geographic areas
• Provide technical guidance related classroom and supplemental learning materials
• Provide technical inputs for the implementation of key assessments and research and assist with the process of development and field testing to validate instruments, analyze results and adapt instruments
• Provide quality assurance to the production of activity-supported materials, trainings, and coaching
• Maintain regular communication with the project staff
• Provide information for weekly, quarterly, and annual project updates and reports
• Review all mass media Scripts in collaboration with other members of the project's education team, the content of all mass media (including episode premises, outlines, scripts, rough cuts) to ensure cultural appropriateness, proper language use, and adherence to Sesame Workshop's educational standards. Synthesize the education team's notes and communicate them to the production team in a clear and actionable format
• Provide onsite consultation of media activities. Attend shoots as needed according to production schedule for the duration of production. Oversee the regional SW education team's participation in production meetings, shoots, and audio records, offering advice and feedback to the production staff and communicating issues and questions to Sesame Workshop's education team verbally and where appropriate, in written reports/emails
• Provide Education Technical Guidance through regular meetings with local production team and Sesame Workshop (virtually)

Provide expertise in Ukraine education system, ECD approaches, and early learning needs:
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships that enable SW to meet programmatic targets and goals.
• Advise on Ukrainian education system and early learning needs to inform current and future programmatic designs

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
• Ukrainian National
• Knowledge of Ukraine's cultural context
• Experience and comfort working in multi-cultural setting and promoting ideas of equity and inclusion
• Knowledge of early childhood development or education
• Fluent in written and oral English and Ukrainian
• Strong understanding of humanitarian, NGO, and donor-based work
• Self-directed, able to independently set priorities and solve problems with minimal guidance
• Excellent interpersonal and oral and written communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to successfully work in a fast-paced environment, within and across departments/functions and develop positive relationships with locally and remote based staff
• Ability to prioritize trade-offs between on-time, on-scope or on-budget project delivery
• 7 or more years of experience in one or more of the following: education in emergencies, ECD in emergencies, project coordination, international education, child social services, child protection, health, or curriculum development in low resource settings at an international NGO or similar organization; preferred
• Experience with media and content creation, preferred

WELCOME SESAME INITIATIVE

Welcome Sesame is a strategic initiative introduced by Sesame Workshop in 2022 to ensure program quality, timely deployment, management support, and continuous learning to bolster our programs designed to reach young children and caregivers affected by conflict and crisis around the world, including refugee and displaced communities in the US. Over the last five years, Sesame Workshop's programming and content library in this area has grown significantly, and we are now working with partners in the Middle East, Bangladesh, Latin America, East Africa, and beyond. Most recently, that programming has included rapid responses bundling educational media in relevant topics and languages for children displaced by crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine. We now refer to this overall set of programs as ''Welcome Sesame.'' More information on where and how we work can be found on our website here.

ABOUT SESAME WORKSHOP

Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, the pioneering television show that has been helping kids grow smarter, stronger and kinder since 1969. Today Sesame Workshop is a global educational force for change with a mission to reach the world's most vulnerable children. We're in more than 150 countries, serving children through a wide range of media and philanthropically funded social impact programs, all grounded in rigorous research and individually tailored to the needs and cultures of the communities we serve.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Minorities/Females/Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-gxzpnq-3-131-110-169-42 in your application.